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LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

tomshardware.com

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Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#131

Post by fn-mote »

BeetleB wrote: post #124
rpdillon wrote: post #18

LG's statement: > ACR uses audio fingerprinting technology using the TV’s internal audio processor (not a speaker) to identify content and does not collect screenshots, screen recordings, video recordings, voice recordings, or other audio recordings from the TV. So they are claiming that ACR is done entirely through audio processing, and no visual data from the screen itself is used? That...doesn't seem plausible. Th…

> So they are claiming that ACR is done entirely through audio processing, and no visual data from the screen itself is used? That...doesn't seem plausible. It apparently is. Do you know the Nielsen Ratings? That's exactly how they know what people are watching these days. I've been contacted by them to be one of their subjects. They ship you a device that listens and recognizes based on content. They look for certai…

This seems like a credulous argument based on no facts you have provided.

If you explained how the box was hooked up, it would be easier to judge whether there was a chance you were correct.

As it is, your description isn’t even clear whether or not the box contains a microphone.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#132

Post by llm_nerd »

rpdillon wrote: post #18

LG's statement: > ACR uses audio fingerprinting technology using the TV’s internal audio processor (not a speaker) to identify content and does not collect screenshots, screen recordings, video recordings, voice recordings, or other audio recordings from the TV. So they are claiming that ACR is done entirely through audio processing, and no visual data from the screen itself is used? That...doesn't seem plausible. Th…

> That...doesn't seem plausible.

In what way? Dramatically lower processing and signature complexity. Audio signature matching is trivial and extremely well known. I see absolutely nothing implausible about this, and it seems a robust, viable solution.

> This paper from 2024 investigated both Samsung and LG and found that they both capture screen images for ACR, and send the resulting hash (not the raw content) back to the manufacturer for identification.

That paper found no such thing. That paper actually demonstrated that they have no clue how the ACR happened, they just demonstrated that playing content yielded content IDs. It is more likely they were witnessing audio ACR happening, exactly as LG described.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#135

Post by Scaled »

Izikiel43 wrote: post #113
ZoneZealot wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically when you turn the TV on for the first time, ACR is not enabled. Ergo, not enabled by default. Sure, to use the TV you need to go past the EULA screen. And the button right in front of you, pre-selected - is agree to all terms. And after pressing OK, you now have ACR turned on. But you did that, it wasn't on by default. Okay I can take my soul sucking corporate hat off now.

Yeah, that's why I only agreed to the minimal terms needed to use the tv, everything else is unchecked

Seems kind of outrageous you had to agree to any terms, even minimal ones. TVs existed for many decades without needing terms.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#136

Post by gruez »

neom wrote: post #101
Koshcheiushko wrote: post #79

I've one question: I've used android phone (realme, which is chinese). And i remember that whenever we used to discuss somethings among our friends, i started used to get ads realated to that on my laptop, phone within atmost a hour. So, was realme transcribing all conversations and uploading it? Can someone answer?

Good read: https://www.amitracked.com/learn/is-my-phone-listening-to-me

I agree with the conclusion, but the whole article is obviously AI slop.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#137

Post by Terr_ »

bryan0 wrote: post #121

> "LG TVs process voice data only when the voice button on the remote control is pressed and held, or when a wake word such as 'Hi LG' is recognized after the user has activated the Far-Field voice recognition feature." > LG went on to say that beyond the aforementioned instances, "the TVs do not collect or record ambient conversations." LG is contradicting themselves here. In order to detect a wake word then they mu…

> In order to detect a wake word then they must be collecting or recording ambient conversations.

There's a risk here that we will talk-past one another while using different meanings of the same words, so let me offer a scenario:

AcmeTV has an isolated component which taps microphone input, records to a 5-second ring buffer, and on "Wakey-Wakey" triggers an alert flag. Assume it works perfectly accurately.

Would you accuse AcmeTV of "recording or collecting ambient conversations" on the basis of that component constantly reading microphone data?

Personally I wouldn't, because it's not the same kind of "recording" we consumers are concerned about.

Re: LG denies TV spying claims, says tracking and snooping concerns 'not true'

#138

Post by stephbook »

mordae wrote: post #38

Remember that one time when music CDs from Sony MBG installed a rootkit on your PC that continuously sent whatever MP3s you had on your PC back to them?

Remember when Amazon deleted books from customers' Kindles (eBook reader), and the book they decided to remotely burn was .. 1984 from Orwell.
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